keypunch

[ kee-puhnch ]

noun

1. Also key punch. Also called card punch. a machine, operated by a keyboard, for coding information by punching punch holes in cards or paper tape in specified patterns.

verb (used with object)

1. to punch holes in (a punch card or paper tape), using a keypunch.
2. to insert (data) into a computer by means of a keypunch:

   to keypunch code numbers.

Other Words From

• keypuncher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of keypunch¹

First recorded in 1930–35; key ¹ + punch ¹

Example Sentences

IBM had by then standardized an 80-column card and had developed keypunch machines that would change little for decades.

From Popular-Science